PLANS to build a mosque in Coventry have divided the Muslim community.

Opponents of the centre object to the fact all nine members of the board are related to the man who bought the land where it is to be built.

Taxi driver Pervais Akhtar aims to create a meeting place for members of the Pakistani and Kashmiri community while welcoming all faiths to create "tolerance, harmony and tranquillity of all communities" in Foleshill.

The mosque will form part of a larger complex to be built on the corner of Foleshill Road and Blackwell Road and will be on the first floor, above shops and below a women's hall.

More than 350 people, including Deputy Lord Mayor Shabbir Ahmed, himself a Muslim, signed a petition objecting to the centre.

Cllr Ahmed, who has recently been on the Haj pilgrimage, said: "It's disingenuous to talk about it as a mosque. A mosque doesn't need a shopping centre or a community centre to have the running costs met."

He said it should properly be described as a prayer hall and that a true mosque would have nothing above it - giving a clear path between the mosque and heaven.

Objectors also object to the fact that only members of Mr Akhtar's extended family sit on the board of the non-profit-making limited company which will soon be asking the community to contribute to the £2million building costs.

Mr Akhtar and his younger brother Tariq Mahmud, both of Pennington Road, Foleshill, got planning permission on the second attempt last week.

Mr Akhtar said: "As far as the centre is concerned it will be open for everybody, regardless of whether they make a contribution or not.

"As far as the board is concerned, the management committee, yes, there's no doubt it's my family. But we are all volunteers, and anyone who is willing to share the vision and burden of construction, will be welcome."

Mr Akhtar said he'd taken religious advice and there was "no problem at all" in describing the hall as a mosque. lIt is understood Mr Akhtar paid £55,000 for the vacant plot of land, which is contaminated, and the board would pay to clean it up.